In recent years, there has been a tremendous growth in the manufacture and sale of containers, particularly decorative containers for receiving and holding objects, such as gift objects. One form of such containers is a decorative bag that is adapted to receive a gift item, which eliminates the need to place the items in separate boxes that are usually subsequently wrapped with gift wrapping paper. Instead, gift items may be "wrapped" in the bag and hidden from view using such items as tissue paper, confetti, bag stuffing, shredded ribbons, and the like. However, it is difficult to securely close such decorative bags if the user wishes to completely enclose the item in the bag. Several examples of bag closing methods include using decorative twist ties, tying bag handles together (if the bag has such handles), placing a fastenable bag closure on the bag (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,608,949 and 5,165,800), attaching a bow mechanism, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,577, and stapling or taping the bag closed.
While these closures are useful, they often disadvantageously reduce the amount of usable space within the gift bag. One suggested solution to this problem was to provide inner structural support to give the bag the appearance of a box, and to provide a rectilinear lid to close the mouth of the bag. The handles of this bag extend through the slots in the lid, such as is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,903. Another alternative means for converting a gift bag into a "gift box" is to provide for overlapping flaps that can be folded into a configuration that gives a box-like appearance, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,690.